17 July, 2008

Some, but not all, of the new VO headsets and bottom brackets are here.

We now have the Grand Cru bottom bracket. It has oversize sealed bearings, a boron steel hollow axle. The cups are alloy. There has been a dearth of top-of-the-line square taper bottom brackets since Shimano reduced their offerings. These will fill that void.

27 comments:

Hi Chris, great new stuff :^) I think you would sell quite a few of the nice threadless headset in 1". There are not many choices below Chris King in 1" threadless headsets, at least not ones that look nice.

I like the logo, and I'm one of those people who remove gaudy stickers and other silly junk from new parts. Very nice looking parts. Such a treasure trove of readily available parts was hard to imagine just a few years ago, not to mention the reasonable prices.

Great looking new parts Chris! The bottom bracket is especially something I've been wanting to see. Shimano is fine, but it's hard to find something nicer without springing for a Phil Wood or White Industries.

The thing I am most eaget to see is, of course, the stem. But I guess I have to wait like everyone else.

Other possible VO items could include: how bout a classically styled quick release that could work on any bike? Do others with a range of bikes find this a touchy subject like I do? Pedals are always needed, but I know you're working on that too along with the seatposts and other eagerly awaited items.

I would like it if someone put some thought into how to mount frame pumps. A nice looking metal clampon pump clip that wouldn't rust or do harm like the old ones might be very handy.

Jack in Eugene has a great idea! I have some very nice old frames with no provisions for cages, or only one. What could they have been thinking? The Camelbak was at least a decade away. Anyway, there are very few non-kludgey ways of mounting a cage on those bikes.

Are the cups on the BBs removable? I've used Phil Wood rings on the old Shimano cartridge BBs that had removable cups. This allowed me to put an affordable BB into my Swiss threaded bike (Swiss threaded Phil cups plus the Shimano BB).

Chris,The new goods look great! Any idea when we might see a VO platform/city pedal?The MKS Touring pedals look nice, last forever and the price is right but they don't have enough bite. I even sharpened the "teeth" on the pedal cages with a file and while this helped, it isn't enough. I'd like an elegant looking, inexpensive platform with real bite. BMX pedals work but I have yet to meet one that's not ugly.Thanks,nv

The new Grand Cru 1-1/8" threadless headset has very high quality sealed bearings and alloy cups. The VO name is laser engraved on. The finish is high polish silver.

We feel that these headsets are equal in quality to headsets costing two times, perhaps even three times, as much. The sealed bearings are of top quality and the finish is simply stellar. In short, you can pay more for a headset, but we're not convinced you'll get more.